Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Elk Hunting 180 grain barnes 35 whelen

What do you guys think of the barnes 180 grain in 35 whelen?

I’m sure it will work, knew a guy in AK who killed two Kodiak bears with the old 180X out of a Whelen. Not a fan of lightweights in the Whelen myself but it’s just personal preference.

Very accurate in my 35 Whelen

I think it’s dumb, and even dumber in a whelen. 225 sgk, and rule the world

Agree on the lightweights. My Whelen sees the 225 gr TSX. Still kicking around bringing it back to BC this year.

The 7mm 120 grain is popular and people are taking moose with them. The 30 caliber 130 grain is getting a lot of use these day.
The 18p 35 caliber bullet has a SD very close to those above.

Alliant Powet Pro Varmint is capable of push the 180 to 3100 FPS according to Speers data, data is a very flat shooting deer load

I'm sure the Barnes 180s would work just fine on elk. They aren't my pick though. I tried to find some a few years ago, and it didn't work out, so I gave up. I prefer to shoot heavier-for-caliber bullets in general, anyway. I've got 225 Accubonds and Partitions for elk.

Why would you use a 180 gr bullet in a 35 caliber rifle? I load only 250's in mine.

I have some boxes of bullets I would use, 275 gr Hornady rn. But I sold my Whelen. My 358 Winchesters, 9.3x62, or 376 Steyr would get the nod.

I wouldn't use a 180 lead core for hunting, but I'd have no.problem using ac180 TTSX

In MS and LA they are allowing 35 Whelens in single shot rifles for primitive weapons deer seasons. I imagine people with a light single shot prefer the recoil of 180s.

Looking at the 35 Whelen ammo on Barnes site they are only showing a 180 and 200 grain loads. Seems the 225 grain ammo has been discontinued

Not a fan of lightweight bullets......even if it’s a mono! Personally, I’d want something around 225 grains in a .35 caliber, even in a mono! If you can’t find a Barnes in a desirable bullet weight......take a look at Hammer Bullets. If I didn’t already have a great load with the TTSX’s in my rifle.....I’d seriously be looking at Hammer’s! memtb

My thoughts are that if you put that bullet where it needs to go, sharpen your knives and get ready to pack out elk. If your rifle shoots a heavier bullet, that might be the optimal choice, but if your rifle prefers the lighter weight bullets, so be it. My brother shot an elk with a 185 grain 338 Win Mag mono bullet and it performed admirably.

I’m sure it will work fine. Personally, even 200 gr is a bit light for caliber and mine shoots the 225 and 250 gr conventional bullets just fine. My choices are the 225 gr Partition and old Trophy Bonded Bear Claws if you can find them. The 200 gr TTSX might be a good compromise. Happy Trails

Just working up my first 35 Whelen loads

Trying out a few things including the "Story" that 270 brass does better than 30-06 brass for the loads

Just getting ready to FireForm brass and set the scope using Interlock 200 gr for that
I am hoping to find premium 225 gr before hunting season rolls around, I have been using Barnes X in one configuration or another since the early 90's so I have my fingers crossed on them

I have never had a Barnes X fail me, the 180 I am sure will perform as long as you can get it to group

Sounds pretty cool to me. TTSX, the faster they go (hit), the wider they open, the more damage they do. I’d bet a .35 hitting fast would really mess a critter up.
The whole, heavy vs. light for caliber is fine when talking cup and core bullets. At the end of the day, you want the widest wound channel, and enough penetration. For monos, velocity equals damage and penetration is rarely an issue. I would not choose that combo for long range work.

I can't imagine shooting something so lightweight in a Whelen. Kinda like shooting 120-130 grain bullets in a 30-06. Doesn't make sense to me. Lightest bullets I've ever shot in my Whelen are 225 grain. I prefer, and now only shoot 250 grainers. Use the caliber as it was designed to be used and throw a large, heavy bullet at big game.

I can tell you that the old Barnes 225 X bullet at 2801 fps was a killing machine. Back down to 2750 was as well. The new TSX should be even better. The ballistics on that load was the equal of a 30-06 and 180 grain Hornady Spitzer. The impact on a critter was a bit different to say the least. I never heard a bullet hit harder than that 225 x so loaded. The "Smack" was something. No bullets recovered.

I briefly considered loading 180 grain bullets in my Whelen but was advised against it. I shoot a Hornady Inter-lok 200gr. RN load recommended by Ken Waters in his Pet Loads it uses IMR 3031. I found this load to be exceptionally accurate in my Whelen and it gave good performance on whitetails.